A new build feels like the simplest purchase available. In contract terms it is frequently the least balanced, because you are signing the builder’s document rather than a negotiated one, and often buying something that does not yet exist.
Read the Specification, Not Just the Brochure
Expect the builder’s own contract rather than a negotiated Law Society one, often in two parts — a contract for the site and a building agreement. What to look at closely: the specification in detail, because what is promised there is what you are entitled to, and finishes, fittings or appliances described as being “to the builder’s selection” give you very little. The completion arrangements, which are frequently expressed flexibly — meaning you may have considerably less certainty about when you get keys than you assume — and what happens if the build runs late, including whether you can withdraw and recover your money. What happens to your deposit and whether it is protected. The structural guarantee arrangements. And the estate as a whole: roads, footpaths, lighting, open spaces, and when they are to be completed and taken in charge by the local authority, which is a question that matters for years after you move in and which is frequently unresolved in developments that have been finished for a decade.
Snagging, and the Company You Are Joining
Snagging is an inspection of the finished unit by a surveyor or engineer on your behalf shortly before closing, listing defects and unfinished items for the builder to rectify. Pay for it properly rather than walking around with a notebook — a professional finds what you will not and describes it in terms the builder must act on. The awkwardness is timing: snagging lands close to completion, when commercial pressure to close is highest, so what can be agreed about outstanding items is a matter for the contract and for negotiation at that moment. And where the development has an owners’ management company, understand that on buying you become a member of it — not merely a payer of a charge, but part of a company responsible for the common areas, their upkeep and insurance. Ask for the accounts, the service charge level, whether a sinking fund exists and is adequate for future major works, and crucially whether the common areas have actually been transferred from the developer, which is a recurring problem in Irish developments. A management company in poor order is a genuine reason to reconsider. The full page is here.
On Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme: both exist and both bear mainly on new builds. Their rules, limits and eligibility conditions are set by Revenue and the scheme administrators and change from time to time — confirm the current position with them directly, and before you commit rather than after.
Buying a new build? 01 5827148.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & TEP
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors, established 1981, with an office at 2 Rose Inn Street in Kilkenny city centre and a second office in Dublin. The firm handles residential and rural conveyancing across Kilkenny and the south-east — buying, selling, sites and farmland, family transfers, remortgages and transfers of equity. Richard is a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, which matters more in conveyancing than people expect: a great many property transactions in Kilkenny arise out of an estate, a family transfer or a succession plan, and those need both sides handled together. Nothing here is tax advice — stamp duty and any gift or inheritance tax questions belong with your accountant and Revenue. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about conveyancing and property law in Ireland. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every transaction turns on its own facts — the title, the planning position, the lender’s requirements and the contract — and advice on yours requires a consultation.
Nothing here is tax advice. Stamp duty, Local Property Tax, capital gains on a sale, and any gift or inheritance tax arising on a family transfer are matters for your accountant or tax adviser and for Revenue’s own guidance. This firm does not advise on tax and states no rate, threshold, relief or condition anywhere on this site. Where a scheme such as Help to Buy or the First Home Scheme is mentioned, the eligibility rules and limits are set by Revenue and the scheme administrators and change from time to time — confirm the current position directly with them.
No valuation, survey or financial advice. This firm does not value property, does not advise on price, and is not a surveyor, engineer or mortgage adviser. A solicitor’s investigation of title is not a structural survey and is not a substitute for one, and no legal work will tell you whether a property is sound or whether the price is right.
Never both sides of the same transaction. The firm acts for buyers and, in separate transactions, for sellers — but not for both parties to the same sale. Conflicts are checked before any substantive discussion, which is why the first contact should identify the property and every party involved.
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